Had I been aware of them before today I would have (likely as not) had a generally dim view of them as they put out a left wing atheist publication that presumably had nothing but contempt for people like myself.

However, they did stridently stand by one of the bedrock principles upon which a free society is based, namely that no one has a right not to be offended. They published satire mocking those things that they did not believe in, as is the right of free people everywhere. They were threatened, and yet refused to cease because they understood that to yield to such threats would be a betrayal of their readers, a compromise of their principles and a submission to the bullies veto...which only emboldens and encourages the bullies.

This was especially gutsy in France, where a large unassimilated minority has become increasingly violent in recent years.

As I type this, the terrorists are still at large, which is an even more terrifying development as it indicates a truly remarkable degree of training and planning as well as the distinct possibility of a considerable support network. France is on its highest alert level for good reason.

The proprietors of this tiny boutique magazine are with us no more, but they carried on a proud French tradition going back to Voltaire. They continue to be an example, not only of individuals willing to stand on principle in a civilized way, but also of what is at stake with regards to freedom itself. In this all civilized peoples should all find common ground.

My attempts at commenting on her post were unsuccessful, but I would note that Kanazawa is neat and its history is really interesting. There is an awful l lot of "What If" potential there. Additionally, I gather that Lady Eboshi's outpost from Mononoke no Hime is based in part on this town.

The area still has a reputation of having a bit of an independent streak.

One thing that probably helped them initially (and most likely moved them up on the 'conquest priority list') was the fact that the area has one of Japan's few natural resources. Specifically, the river there is fairly rich in gold. ( Panning is NOT allowed today...the gold in the river is the property of some mining company which has a filtration plant....and any gold flakes that make it past are still company property...and can just go out to sea)

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I'm glad you said something. The spam filter got your comment attempts, but I put one back. I will mark "not spam" on all the others to train the filter, but just trash them.

I think what happened is that it was trying to catch a crop of spammers that have reasonable-sounding comments but then link to some Polish cheap car insurance or whatever. The link inside the comment may have tripped something, too.

January 03, 2015

Mixed Emotions

Over the last 3 days there's been a bit of back and forth on the veracity of this story, but as I type this it is looking like there has been an ebola outbreak within the ranks of ISIS. Now this could not happen to a more deserving bunch of scumbags, so the first impulse is to just snark.

For one thing, you will be shocked...SHOCKED to learn that ISIS, is not responding to the situation with the rational calm of a civilized military (Eisenhower with the Spanish Flu) or religious (Samaritan's Purse against Ebola) organization. Instead, they are killing the doctors who won't go near ebola patients without protective gear....so...they are killing the sane competent doctors. One of the reasons ebola spread so fast in East Africa was due to the fact the area had been ravaged by a recent war. The areas under ISIS influence are being ravaged by an ongoing one, and ISIS is being particularly efficient at spreading blood around in ways not seen since Tamerlane.

But it gets worse:

The disease will go wherever the blood is spattered and that means into the local population which means it could easily get into the waves of refugees....

...or pilgrims.

...and that has the potential to be an unspeakable calamity.

The hadj is not until September this year, but Mecca is open to pilgrims year round. (Medina too)

The Saudis have astutely banned entry to Mecca for people from Ebola affected areas. However, ISIS is not known for respecting border restrictions. Furthermore, one of the more likely ways ebola could have reached Mesopotamia is via jihadis traveling from Africa. If these people were willing to travel all the way from West Africa to fight in a war, little will stop them from making the much shorter hop to a place their faith requires them to visit before they die.

Fortunately ebola victims tend not to be terribly mobile while contagious, but given that they tend to become quite messily contagious it's easy to see where this could get out.

The doctors of East Africa are not incompetent, yet a huge number of them have died even after getting proper equipment. Samaritan's Purse and Medicines Sans Frontiers have highly trained and well equipped people yet they have both had their people infected and despite heroic efforts the disease is still ravaging the area. ISIS is ill equipped, untrained and stark raving mad.

The question of how it got there is troubling as well. While the most likely vector was jihadis traveling from the infected area it is conceivable that given their megalomanic outlook ISIS was trying to weaponize the bug. Ebola is a poor bioweapon (though its terror potential is considerable) and the chances of ISIS being able to successfully transport and deploy the thing is quite remote. However given that they are stark raving nutters the chance that they might try and fail spectacularly has always been much higher.

U-2s Bono took a nasty fall on his bicycle in Central Park back in November. Now, as the year begins, he still can't move around and in part because he had his elbow replaced, he may never play guitar again.

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Okay... he's lefthanded but plays righthanded guitar. So the problem is with his fret-hand elbow and shoulder. Hmm. It's possible that his left hand fingers' nerves might be affected, depending on how bad the elbow and shoulder damage was.

Well, the obvious thing to do while recovering would be to sit the guitar on a table, like some people play steel guitar. That way there is less load on his shoulder and elbow until he gets everything back into shape. You wouldn't want to do much practice, but you'd want to do some.

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Fri Jan 2 13:59:40 2015 (ZJVQ5)

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It's a shame for him personally of course, but people will hardly remember Bono for his intricate guitar work.

I hope for a partial solution for him. It reminds me of Julie Andrews.

Something happened to her voice box, and she no longer was able to sing. Considering how much of her professional and personal life was oriented around her amazing voice and the music she made, that was a tragedy.

She got botox injections, and they helped. She can't sing professionally, but she can sing for her own pleasure now -- and that's worthwhile. It's a measurable improvement in her wellbeing.

Even if Bono can't perform the guitar professionally any more, I hope they can make it so he can play it for himself, just because.

A friend of mine who I respect a tremendous amount pointed me to this SJW screed....approvingly.

The article is actually thoughtful and well written, and I don't mean "by the standards of SJW screeds" either. I'll elaborate on my disagreements with it in a moment, but I urge you to read the whole thing.

The article ( by a Laurie Penny) is actually a response to a blog comment by MIT Professor Scott Aaronson . The comment (which the author doesn't directly link to) is here. It is also thoughtful and I encourage you to take time to read it.

If you've read both article and post, you've already lost 12 minutes of your life so you won't miss what you'll lose by reading on.